Horror-action director James Wan takes a deep dive into the comic book world of ‘Aquaman’

Ed Symkus More Content Now

Wednesday

Dec 12, 2018 at 12:58 PMDec 12, 2018 at 12:58 PM

James Wan was a struggling Australian filmmaker in his mid-20’s when, about 15 years ago, raw talent, dumb luck and perfect timing combined, resulting in his smash hit horror film “Saw.” Wan ended up executive producing, but not directing, five “Saw” follow-ups, moved on to starting up and directing the successful “Insidious” and “Conjuring” franchises, then decided he was ready for the big time. He went after and landed directing chores for “Furious 7,” and though he’s since admitted that stepping into the directing shoes of that series came along with a great deal of pressure, he didn’t even blink when the idea of him making “Aquaman” and becoming a member of the DC universe came his way. He spoke about the new film recently in New York.

Q: How long have you actually been involved with the “Aquaman” project?A: It was while we were developing “Conjuring 2” (around 2015) for Warner Bros. I knew the studio was diving into their DC universe, and I knew they had a bunch of characters. Batman and Superman were gone, Wonder Woman was gone, and there were really only two or three other characters I was interested in. I mentioned that if they wanted me to, I would love to come and play in that superhero world. I mentioned it to (WB chairman and CEO) Kevin Tsujihara, and he later asked if I would come in and talk to them about it. They pitched me the Flash and Aquaman. What ultimately drew me to Aquaman was that he had never been done before. That was one of the biggest drawing points for me because the Flash had already been on TV a fair bit.

Q: And what was your reaction to the Warner Bros. choice of Jason Momoa instead of some blond, clean-cut actor who more resembled the original comic book character?A: It was DC that pitched me the idea of Jason. I thought to myself, “Hmmm.” I guess I was intrigued, but I wasn’t dismissive of it. And the more I thought about it, and the more I started looking at it, I became very accepting of the concept. The smartest thing about casting Jason is that any of the perceptions or jokes that people had of the classic comic book guy - who people used to make fun of - got thrown out very quickly.

Q: When we spoke for “Furious 7,” you admitted that you were a bit nervous about doing it. What was the pressure like for you in taking on “Aquaman?”A: Well, the other big reason I picked “Aquaman” is, again, because I thought he’s the one everyone makes fun of (laughs). No one’s gonna care about him that much. I get to make a movie that’s just right under the radar, there’ll be no pressure on me, it’ll be a walk in the park making this film. Fast forward to three years later. Bam! A massive spotlight is on this film (laughs). But there’s always pressure when you make these big movies, just by the nature of how huge they are. Of course, there’s also the added pressure of where this particular movie stands in the landscape of (superhero movie) events. But I try not to let any of that stuff cloud my head too much and affect my filmmaking. I just plow ahead, make the movie I want to make, and stay true to my vision.

Q: You’ve also said in previous interviews that you want to get around to science fiction at some point. Is “Aquaman” a science fiction movie or a comic book movie?A: For the longest time I’ve wanted to make a world creation film - a designed world - like what George Lucas and Jim Cameron and Peter Jackson have done. So, I wanted to do a world creation movie, an action-adventure movie, a superhero movie, and a kaiju monster movie. And I felt that “Aquaman” wanted to be a little bit of everything, that it kind of ticked off all those boxes for me. But I still really want to do a much more serious science fiction movie down the line.

Q: You’ve been known to put on a hoodie, sneak in to one of your films, sit in the audience, and check out the reactions. Do you intend to do that with “Aquaman?”A: I make these kinds of movies for the mass audience, so of course you want to see how it plays with the general public. It’s so much fun to make this kind of film and see how much they get into it. I do it with all my films, so I certainly will do it with this one.

“Aquaman” opens on Dec. 21.Ed Symkus writes about movies for More Content Now. He can be reached at esymkus@rcn.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.